Sing Me a Song of Zutara
by Legacy of the Avatar
Summary: Drabble and oneshot collection. Most will be based on Zutara or the two before a relationship gets going, but I might slip in Taang.
1. What Is This Feeling?

I'm baaaaaaack...

* * *

She didn't know what was wrong. All she knew was that her pulse rushed every time she looked at the most recent member of their party, the exiled Prince Zuko.

He wondered what was going on with him. Every time he set eyes on the Waterbender, his head began to reel.

And both their faces flushed something awful when they realized they'd been caught staring at the other.

* * *

Okay, my break is over 'cuz I got ideas! Not enough for a full fledged fic yet, but there's very little material in the Avatarverse at the moment. So, I shall be writing a collection of drabble-ish things like this and oneshots, based on lyrics in a song. (I do requests.) To clear up the disclaimer issues now, I do not own Avatar or any song titles I plan on using for chapter titles. Nick owns Avatar and anyone from Rascall Flatts to Sondheim will own the songs. This one is from a verse of "What Is This Feeling?" in Schwartz's **_Wicked!_**


	2. What Hurts the Most

"_Katara, come with me for a minute."_

_She looked up at my request, but stood and followed me. I led her to a grove not far from the campsite._

"_What is it, Zuko?" she asked._

I jolted awake. Looking around, I realized I was not back in that cursed grove, but in the Fire Palace. Alone.

Groaning softly, I lay back down on the bed. I wouldn't alone it if hadn't been for my stupid mouth. That night, in the grove, I meant to confess something to Katara, but my stupid mouth couldn't form the words.

What good is being the Fire Lord if you can't have the one thing you want most in the world?

* * *

Is it just me or does Rascall Flatts write songs perfect for Zutara? 


	3. What I Did For Love

He could never return home, but he didn't care.

It could be considered treason by her friends, but she didn't care.

Her brother was going kill him, but they didn't care.

All that mattered was the feeling of his hand in hers, her lips against his.

The feeling of being in love, regardless of the cost.

* * *

Wow, this was short... 


	4. Not so Bad

Warning: Death of Character. Nothing graphic, just sad.

* * *

Katara thought back to when Zuko had joined up with the party. It was in Ba Sing Se, shortly after Aang had entered the Avatar State and gotten Appa back. Aang was exercising the bison, getting him used to flying again after a few weeks being hobbled. Sokka was sampling the foods the vendors were offering and Toph was with Aang while Katara was left to her own devices.

"Perfume, miss? How about this exquisite headpiece? Friends of the Avatar get fifty percent discounts on everything in stock!" Though tempting, Katara shook her head at the offers of finery and just wandered about the town's center.

Suddenly, there was a loud _crack!_ over by the Earthbending school nearby. Everyone dropped everything and headed over there, Katara included.

An elderly man was lying on the ground, a nasty bruise forming on his head. Katara gasped and pushed her way through the throng of bodies. It was the man that powerful Firebender had hit all those weeks back at the deserted village.

Katara saw Zuko kneeling next to him, feeling for a pulse and checking his breathing. It was in vain though; the man had died when a boulder from the bending school had hit him in the chest.

Katara crept close to Zuko. She could see his hands shaking from the anger and emotions he was bottling up.

"Zuko?" The exiled prince spun around, shocked to hear her voice.

"Leave," he muttered when he realized it was Katara. Katara knelt down by him.

"Zuko, he's gone." Zuko snorted.

"You think I don't know that? Leave me." He turned back to his uncle's body. Katara lingered a little longer, then left.

That night, Katara had related what had happened to her companions. Aang seemed sorry for Zuko, as did Toph, but she said it always stinks to lose someone you obviously care about. Sokka seemed impassive, even though Katara reminded him it was the same man who had threatened Zhao if he killed the Moon Spirit. ("Didn't help, did it?")

"What did Zuko do?" Aang asked, getting some more dinner. Katara shrugged.

"He seemed ready to break. I went over to him, but he told me to leave, so I did." Katara looked over at Momo and took the peach he had been ready to eat away. "That's my peach, Momo." The lemur hissed and took Sokka's peach instead.

"Ya know, this Zuko guy doesn't seem as bad as you three say he is," Toph commented. "He helped attack that creepy lady with the machine, seemed genuinely upset when she attacked that man, and from what you said, Katara, is taking his death very seriously. And he doesn't seem to be chasing us," she added.

Sokka had something to say about that, but stopped at the sound of a familiar voice around the corner of the dining room in the inn they were staying at until something could be figured out about the lunar eclipse coming and the Fire Nation.

"I need a room." Everyone hushed and focused on what Zuko was saying in the other room to the innkeeper. He sounded as if he had been…crying?

"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to rent any rooms until the Avatar leaves Ba Sing Se. You'll have to find some place else."

"This is the only inn with vacancy."

"Not while the Avatar is here it's not. Sorry." The innkeeper went back to whatever he was doing. Katara sat still as she heard Zuko's footsteps walk towards the door; suddenly, she leapt up.

"Excuse me, Li? He's…he's with us," Katara stammered. She ignored the stares of Zuko and her traveling companions.

"Why didn't he say so?" Li asked suspiciously.

"We…we had told him to meet at another inn, but this one had vacancy. I forgot to tell him this afternoon when I met him near the school," she replied. _Why the heck am I doing this? _she asked herself.

"I saw them whispering when that old guy got whacked," one of the current patrons called. Li looked at Zuko, then nodded.

"Fine. You can stay."

From then on, the exiled prince had been traveling with them, helping them, teaching Aang what he knew about Firebending, and, finally, attacking his father.

And Katara didn't think he was so bad anymore.

* * *

I was going to wait until I had a good title, but I just _had _to post it. This one isn't lyric-oriented. (Btw, I own nothing but these drabbles and oneshots.) 


	5. All I Ask of You

Okay, I couldn't resist. I heard this song, from Phantom of the Opera in case you didn't know, and just had to make a small little oneshot.

* * *

Zuko knew something was wrong with Katara. He didn't know how he knew, he just knew. It became obvious even to her idiot brother when she muttered something about taking a walk and leaving the campsite. Sokka knew better than to try and ask what was wrong, but Zuko didn't. He stood and followed her.

"Where did those two get off to?" Toph asked. Sokka shrugged.

"As long as that…Firebender doesn't harm my sister, he could jump in the river for all I cared." The fifteen-year-old warrior yawned then clambered into his sleeping bag. "Good night!"

* * *

Soft sobs reached the former prince's ears as he neared an outcropping of rocks. "Katara?" he called softly.

"Who's there?" He could tell he had frightened the Waterbender.

"It's only me." Zuko stepped closer and found Katara sitting on a rock. At first, she looked surprised, then relaxed.

"Oh. I thought it was Sokka or someone else," she muttered, sounding relieved. The prince didn't ask why she felt that way. He merely walked closer; Katara stood and fell into his embrace.

"What's wrong?" he murmured into his sweetheart's ear. The feel of Zuko's arms around her had caused Katara to sob harder.

"I'm just…scared, Zuko. What if something happens to Aang or Sokka or Toph or…you? What if you all died and I'm the only survivor?" Katara's body began to shake.

"There is no way that's going to happen, Katara. Aang is the Avatar, your brother is too stupid to die, and Toph is too stubborn," Zuko assured her.

"What about you?" Katara whispered. "I don't want to lose you, not now."

"I won't leave you, Katara. It took me too long to find you," he replied, stroking Katara's braid.

Slowly, Katara relaxed. "Zuko…?"

He brought her face up to meet his. "What?" Before she could answer, he closed the gap.

"Promise me that you won't leave me or push me away," Katara finished when they broke for air.

"I promise."


	6. For The First Time

This song is owned by Phil Collins and Disney. It's from Tarzan on Broadway. I added the lyrics so those who haven't heard it can at least understand oneshot a little better. Hopefully.

* * *

Katara was confused, to say the least. The urge she felt to spend time with Zuko was difficult to understand. Every time she turned around, his face was staring back her when he wasn't anywhere near her.

She worried that her emotions showed in her eyes for her seeing friends and in her pulse for Toph. Iroh knew, no doubt about it. Aang might have known, but she wasn't sure.

_This affection I feel is hard to understand,_

_It's not the way I planned_

_My world is changing._

_Wherever I turn,_

_It's his face I see_

_Looking back at me_

_And in my eyes I can't disguise_

_The affection I feel_

_Is getting the better of me._

Katara thought back to Jet as she sat by the river. Her crush on him seemed so…dreamy that now she knew it never would have worked out. Especially now that he was dead. What she felt with Zuko was real, tangible emotions that (if it was love) could work out, given time and work.

The young Waterbender remembered what had shocked her into realizing that something was up. She had been distractedly making up Waterbending moves a few days ago when a warm hand enclosed hers.

"If you're trying to imitate a Firebending move, it goes like this." Zuko moved Katara's hands in the proper motions of the Firebending move she had unknowingly attempted to make into a Waterbending move.

_Oh, for the first time _

_It's not a dream._

_Oh, for the first time,_

_It's seems so real_

_That I want to remember every moment_

_That I'm there beside him_

_And he gently takes my hand._

It wasn't as if she hadn't had any "romances" before; this was just the first one where Katara wished her mother were here to explain what was going through her mind. Zuko's presence was changing her world in an irreversible manner.

_Oh for the first time it's not a dream  
Oh for the first time it seems so real  
That I want to remember  
Every moment  
That I'm there beside him  
When he gently takes my hand  
So here I am  
Feeling things I've never felt  
And all because of him  
My world is changing_

_(She has turned my whole world upside down.)_

Not far from Katara's spot, Zuko stood, staring at the water as he had been the past few days. Katara was starting aggravate him and not because he hated her. Quite the contrary. He found himself drawn to her like dragon flies to honey.

And, deep down, he wondered if she felt the same way.

After the incident with the moves, Katara had been "naughty", as the term went. When she went to practice Waterbending, she made sure Zuko saw her in her white under things (so unlike her, true, but love is deaf, dumb, and blind). She did it purposely to bring his attention to her, and Katara had no intentions of denying it.

_Everything that I do  
I do to catch his eye_

_Oh, and I won't deny  
I stand here guilty  
(I wonder if she feels the same)  
Cause this affection (as) I feel  
Has gotten the better of me. (Has gotten the better of me.)_

Zuko began to wander distractedly down the bank. _I hate being confused. Is merely attraction or something more? It feels real, but…_

_Zuko makes me feel unique, in a good way,_ mused Katara. She smirked as she remembered just before dinner the night before. She had slipped on a slick stone and had fallen. And, of course, Zuko had caught her. Seemed a little clichéd to her, the beast saving the beauty, but at least she wasn't dirty.

_So, for the first time, (So, for the first time)_

_Can this be love? (Can this be love?)_

_I know it's real (It's real)_

_And with him I feel _

_So completely (Completely)_

_Uniquely like no other (She is like no other)_

_As he gently holds me close (Holds me close)_

At the same time, both troubled teenagers shook their heads. Honestly! What could they be thinking? A Waterbending peasant and a Fire Nation prince, albeit a banished one, together? The world would end before that happened.

But Ursa had told Zuko that emotions are the only true way to tell if something is possible. Love is possible if you fell love. Was it possible for Zuko to feel love, after what he'd been through?

And her mom had told Katara the same thing…

_But wait a minute, what am I saying? (I've never known)_

_I've never thought on a scale so grand. (Ooh, these feelings)_

_But these emotions racing through me,_

_Tell me I must, tell me I can (I've never felt these things)_

_I'm finding who I am. (I'm finding who I am.)_

_Cause for the first time (Cause for the first time)_

_I have no doubts. (These things she does)_

_Oh for the first time (Oh for the first time)_

_I understand (I'm trying to understand)_

Zuko wished he could talk to Iroh about this, but his uncle would rag on him until the Apocalypse. It was hard understanding women!

Katara, on the other hand, had no problem. She remembered every love story her Gran-Gran had told her and knew what was happening, once she allowed she herself to believe it.

_Yes, for the first time (For the first time)_

_I realize that all the things (I realize that)_

_They said would happen (Something strange happened)_

_Well, they're happening to me (Happening to me)_

_Every time I'm with that man (Every time I with…)_

_(Every time I'm with her)_

_Every time I'm with that (Could I be that)_

_Man! (Man)_

Zuko stumbled over a big blue blob. Katara.

Oh, uh…sorry…" Zuko stumbled through an apology. Katara shook her head.

"It's fine. I was distracted anyway." Katara got up and dusted herself off. "How long have I been out here?"

Zuko shrugged. "I left shortly after you did, so I don't clue. Whatever time it is, your brother has probably assumed the worse." Katara snorted.

"Sokka's paranoid, Zuko. Well, come on." Katara was about to return when Zuko's hand stopped her. "Zuko…Sokka's going kill you if he thinks you kissed me or anything…" Zuko silenced her with a hand on her mouth, which was shortly replaced by his mouth.

"Let's give him a reason to worry."

* * *

Hi!!! Sorry for disappearing but my full-length fic muse decided to leave me and head south for the winter. Still hasn't returned but I got this out, thanks to Tinsel Tinkerbell for reminding me I had this thing...


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